Emmy Louise Philhour was VITAS’ first patient—a funny, fascinating, bright and determined woman who taught us much about hospice care. The daughter of an industrial manufacturer in Pittsburgh, Emmy was married for more than 30 years to Charles W. “Phil” Philhour, longtime professor of drama at the University of Miami.

Emmy and Phil had two sons, Paul and David. But over the years they accumulated an extended family of friends, students, colleagues and others who admired this extraordinary couple and the ideals that they exemplified throughout their lives.

“They gathered people into their lives,” recalls Carol Reiter, a drama student of Phil’s at UM. “Emmy and Phil came to my rescue after my first husband left me. I was eight months pregnant at the time. I didn’t know what to do or where to go, and Emmy opened her home to me."

Carol said to her, "How can I ever repay you?" Emmy said, "You can’t, but you have to pass it on to someone else when the opportunity knocks." This was Carol’s biggest lesson learned from Emmy Philhour.

When Emmy was diagnosed terminal cancer, Phil became her primary caregiver. But as an avid reader and independent thinker, Emmy was intrigued by a new concept called hospice, which offered her the chance to approach death with dignity in her own home.

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